Duo takes New England Grand Prix at Lime Rock

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published
1:00 am EDT, Monday, July 3, 2006

LAKEVILLE - The blazing sun wasn't the only hot item during Saturday's New England Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. The Audi R8 team drivers, Rinaldo Capello (Italy) and Allan McNish (Scotland), staged a rally in the final 30 minutes to nab the American Le Mans Series race at the 1.54-mile road course.

The Capello/McNish tandem overcame the early leads of the Porsche Spyder pair of Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas, who led three times for 70 laps in the 177-lap, 2¾-hour event. McNish led the last 39 laps to cap off the Audi R8's final race, its 50th triumph in the ALMS since debuting in 2000.
"I drove it to the limit with no letup," said McNish. "We had to pull out 110 percent to score this victory. The (two Penske Racing) Porsches were faster than us in qualifying, no doubt. But we were able to run at our qualifying speed pace (fourth). When I got through traffic, I attacked and tried to build up my lead."
Three caution flags for 24 laps slowed the race, the second of which allowed Capello to gain ground on the leading Porsche. Capello nudged into the lead on Lap 42 before the Lola of Chris McMurry/

took over on Lap 43. By the 58th circuit, the Audi had forged in front again.
"I couldn't catch the Porsche," said Capello. "But that second yellow allowed me to (move) up. Our pit strategy was perfect; nothing was going to stop us with the R8 this good today."
After 272 miles of racing, the winning Audi team had an edge of 11.812 seconds over the runner-up Porsche duo. Completing the top five were the driver pairs of

Sascha Maasen
/
Lucas Luhr
(Porsche),
Pedro Lamy
/Stephane Sarrazin (
Aston Martin
) and Ron Fellows/
Johnny O'Connell
(Corvette).
Danbury driver
Duncan Dayton
, teaming with
Andy Wallace
in a Lola EX257, had throttle problems and finished 20th.
More from Lime Rock:
Matt McDonough
and
Mike Andersen
each won one of the two 30-minute, F-2000 races. Veteran road racer
Chris Fahan
of Redding placed second, then third, in each event. Fahan, a Formula Atlantic national champ in 1992, was disappointed in his second race outcome.
"I don't know what happened," said Fahan. "The car was kind of loose and I didn't feel confident in putting the throttle down. It turned into a defensive race for us."
Currently third in points, Fahan hopes to make most or all of the series' 12 races.
"The challenge is getting the car set up so it works well at each track; it's all about cornering. At Lime Rock, you don't slow down much. The thrill is getting through the corners."
Local drivers' results: At Thompson Speedway Thursday,

Todd Szegedy
of Ridgefield won the Modified Tour event, his ninth career win; he's seventh in points. Matt Kobyluck of Uncasville nabbed the Busch East Series race. George "Mad Dog" Bessette of Danbury was runner-up in the Pro Stock feature;
Jay Pepin
Sr. of Ridgefield was seventh in the Limited Sportsman race.
Friday at Stafford Speedway,
Todd Owen
won the SK Modified feature.
Kurt Lenahan
of Roxbury placed seventh; the New Milford pair of
Chris Jones
and
Lloyd Agor
were 21st and 22nd, respectively;
Fred Nees
Jr. of New Milford placed 10th in the SK Lights feature.
At Accord Speedway,
Billy Deak
Jr. of New Milford notched the Pure Stock feature, his third win in '06; Danbury's
Buck Barrett
was sixth.
Bill Deak
Sr. was sixth in the Pro Stock holdover feature.
On Saturday at Lebanon Valley Speedway,
Ed Marshall
of Ridgefield was second in the Modified feature. Don Carlson of Ridgefield was runner-up in the Pro Stock feature.
At
Orange County Fair Speedway
,
Tim McCarthy
of Redding was fourth in the Veteran Pure Stock feature; Buck Barrett was sixth, Jay Pepin Sr., was 10th. Jay Pepin Jr. placed third in the Amateur Pure Stock race.
Finish lines:
Tom Fox
won Saturday's 100-lap SK Modified feature at Waterford Speedbowl; Danbury's
Brandon Hansen
was 19th. Nextel Cup racers
Jimmy Spencer
and
Kenny Wallace
will race in the Pro
All Star Series
75-lapper at Thompson Speedway on July 12.

Ron Mentus
is a freelance writer. Write to him c/o The News-Times, 333 Main St., Danbury, CT, 06810.